Omaha Premiere of “The Fannie Lou Hamer Story” and Raise the Vote! Special Event: October 8th

The Empowerment Network will host a “Raise the Vote” Community Event, Rally and Special Premiere on Saturday, October 8, 2016 at Omaha North High School.

As part of the event, there will be free admission to the award winning one woman play, “The Fannie Lou Hamer Story: Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired.” The performance features international artist, Mzuri Mayo Aimaye as Fannie Lou Hamer.

The event which is free and open to the community will be held at Omaha North High School. A free breakfast will be served from 8:45 am to 9:30 am.

Between 9:30 and 11 am, attendees will have the opportunity to meet and hear from candidates regarding how they would respond if elected to community priorities:

Invited candidates include:Congressman Brad Ashford and challenger Don Bacon
Justin Wayne and Jill Brown – State Legislature
Ricky Smith and Yolanda Williams – Omaha Public Schools Board
Other candidates will also be available for meet and greet.

The Fannie Lou Hamer Story event will start at 11:00 am including the one hour play and a Q & A. Award winning, international performer Mzuri Moyo Aimbaye brings the indomitable spirit of Fannie Lou Hamer to life. Mzuri delivers a spellbinding performance featuring storytelling, song and a video montage. In honor of the legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer and the fight for the right to vote, join us for an amazing one-woman play about courage, perseverance and the importance of taking a stand.

The events are presented by the Empowerment Network and North Omaha Neighborhood Alliance in partnership with the Urban League of Nebraska, 100 Black Men of Omaha, Black Votes Matter, Omaha NAACP, Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance and Drive 2 Vote!

More Information on Mzuri and Fannie Lou Hamer

International Artist: Mzuri Moyo Aimbaye

Destined to sing and bring love and peace to the world, Mzuri has performed all over the United States and abroad. She lived briefly in Paris and Italy, where she trained as a singer. Mzuri also trained as an actress at HB Studio, New York City.

Upon her return from Europe, she was cast as Lucy for the cultural film“SANKOFA”. A writer since childhood, Mzuri has performed in a variety of venues including colleges and universities. Her recent concert debut at Lincoln Center was widely acclaimed. A star of both stage and film, a critic once wrote of her, “when Ms. Mzuri sings, God smiles, and angels flap their wings.” In this one-woman show, Mzuri presents… Ms. Fannie Lou Hamer, up close and personal. This presentation in word and song captures a little known but very important moment in history and lays it at your feet.

When Mzuri saw a tape of civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer on Gil Noble’s “Like It Is” television show she found the model for the role that has since shaped her acting, writing and singing career. “After she (Hamer) told how she was beaten, I still did not see one ounce of hate in the woman,” Mzuri recalled. “That blew my mind. I could not get how she could not hate the people who treated her that way.

I had so much rage in me, racial rage, and I had not gone through anything like she had gone through. That rage was part of the reason I went to Europe.”Mzuri instead channeled her anger into writing a one-woman show about Hamer.

Fannie Lou Hamer – Civil Rights Icon

Fannie Lou Hamer was a civil rights activist who helped African Americans register to vote and who co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.

Civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer was born Fannie Lou Townsend on October 6, 1917, in Montgomery County, Mississippi. She was the youngest of 20 children. Her parents were sharecroppers in the Mississippi Delta area. Hamer began working the fields when she was only 6 years old.

Hammer dedicated her life to the fight for civil rights, working for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. During the course of her activist career, Hamer was threatened, arrested, beaten, and shot at. She was severely injured in 1963 in a Winona, Mississippi jail.

In 1964, Hamer helped found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. She brought the civil rights struggle in Mississippi to the attention of the entire nation during a televised session at the convention.